Retail footfall dropped 0.3 per cent in Scotland year on year in August new figures suggest.

Springboard and the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) said the decline in Scottish shoppers was better than the UK average of 0.9 per cent, with Scottish footfall decline on a par with London.

The Scottish figures are also a marked improvement on the 1.3 per cent decline in footfall recorded in July.

Fiona Moriarty, director of the SRC in Scotland, said the latest figure was in line with encouraging sales growth in August and a "significant uplift" in consumer confidence.

"Shopper numbers are marginally down on the previous year, but it's a complex comparable as the Olympics saw many of us out and about while others reduced their shopping trips to fit round watching the Games," she said.

“The signs are that confidence is gradually returning in our high streets and town centres.

"Retailers will be hoping that this tentative momentum starts to build as they start gearing up for their all-important Christmas campaigns.”

Last week the SRC reported Scottish retail sales in August reached a four-year high, with total sales up 3.5 per cent on August 2012, with growth recorded in both food and non-food sales.